Links in “Debt Collection”
- Where Are Debt Collection Rules Heading? Look to New York (CFPB Does)
The CFPB and the New York Department of Financial Services work hand in hand. Hence, the DFS' proposed debt collection rules is a good bet to form the basis for where the CFPB may be going with its debt collection rules. [7/22/14]
- A Lesson on How Not to Collect Debt
Hanna & Associates, a Georgia-based debt collection agency, is facing penalties administered by the CFPB for deceptive debt collection practices. These practices included churning out over 350,000 lawsuits in a four-year period based on unsubstantiated or limited evidence that, although the result of an automated process, were signed by attorneys to increase the intimidation factor. [7/15/14]
- Another One Bites the Dust
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took enforcement action Thursday against ACE Cash Express, one of the United State's largest payday lenders. ACE Cash Express was charged with pushing payday borrowers into a cycle of debt through illegal debt collection tactics including harassment and false threats of lawsuits or criminal prosecution. ACE will pay $5 million in refunds and another $5 million as penalty for these violations. [7/11/14]
- Convenience Fees = Inconvenient Visit from FTC
The FTC handed down another ruling against a Houston-based debt collection agency that used deceptive tactics to bully English and Spanish-speaking consumers into paying debts. The agency used false and deceptive methods to collect more than $1.3 million in what they called âconvenience feesâ and âtransaction feesâ from consumers who authorized payments over the phone. [6/26/14]
- Debt-Relief Company Takes Access to Customers’ Bank Accounts
FTC charges California-based DebtPro 123 with deceiving customers. Company promised to settle debts and repair credit, but got direct access to debit their bank accounts and charged customers up to $10K, leaving them in even worse shape than when they started. [6/4]
- $7.5M Later: A Laundry List of How Not to Collect Debt
The Federal Trade Commission hits Consumer Portfolio Services (Irvine, CA) with $5.5 million settlement for violations of the FTC Act and another $2 million in civil penalties for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Here's a laundry list of how not to collect debt. [6/4]
- CFPB Publishes Spring 2014 Rulemaking Agenda
As part of its voluntary participation in the Unified Agenda, the CFPB published its regulatory agenda for Spring 2014. The agenda includes rulemakings concerned with mortgages, defining larger participants, debt collection, payday loans and prepaid cards, and privacy disclosures. [5/27]
- Do the Crime, Pay the Fine… Non-Banks, Too
The CFPB issued a report highlighting illegal actions uncovered by the Bureauâs supervision within non-bank markets. These include payday, debt collection, and consumer reporting markets, which are being federally supervised for the first time. Recent non-bank supervisory activities have resulted in over $70 million in remediation. [5/23]
- Credit Scores Underestimate Creditworthiness of Consumers with Medical Collections
CFPB study finds that consumers with medical debt in collections are likely to have credit scores that underestimate their creditworthiness by about 10 points. [5/23]
- So. California Company Offers Textbook Case in How NOT to Collect Debt
Pretending to be process servers, threatening consumers with lawsuits, wage garnishment, seizure of property and arrest, disclosing info about debts to employers, colleagues and family members -- Asset Capital and Management Group in Southern California ran the gamut. The first was ordered to pay $90.5 million, will settle for more than $4 million. [5/22]
